Windy conditions delay caterpillar spraying

Blustery conditions over the last week have created a few roadblocks for city crews in Regina trying to spray for tent caterpillars and cankerworms.

“We have been wind delayed. The weather has been pretty frustrating from our point of view,” said Russell Eirich, the city’s manager of forestry, pest control and horticulture.

Crews resumed spraying in the southeast Tuesday around the Gardiner Park and Wood Meadows neighbourhoods. Eirich revealed the city has received roughly 230 tent caterpillar and cankerworm complaints from residents this season.

“When you look at the complaints and where the complaints are versus where we’re spraying, we think we’re getting it right because the majority of those complaints seem to be coming out of the areas that we’re treating right now,” he said.

“By far and away tent caterpillars are our driving issue right, so they are the ones that have our attention the most.”

The worry is the insects will eat the leaves of trees. While the trees will re-leaf, Eirich said it’s hard on them to have to undergo this process year after year.

So far, the city is about halfway complete its seasonal spraying program with around 4,700 trees sprayed out of 10,000.

Eirich reminded people the city does have a website that shows which areas have been treated and which areas are on the list.

One pest the city is not seeing a lot of is mosquitoes. Eirich called their numbers “phenomenally low”, explaining traps around the city are averaging two mosquitoes at this time. The average is usually five per trap. He said outside of their control zone, there are 17 mosquitoes per trap.

Last year at the same time they had used about double the amount of product they’ve used this year.